Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia could become one of the main cashew nut producers and exporters in the world, and added the commodity has the potential but limitations of processing. Cambodia exports about one million tons of unprocessed cashew nuts, the Prime Minister said at a graduation ceremony of the National Technical Training Institute of Cambodia on Monday. With the limitation of processing activities locally, the Premier called upon the private sector and investors to invest in the processing facilities to produce finished cashew products. “Cambodia will become one of the main cashew nut contributors in the future because now it exports about 1 million tons of unprocessed cashew nuts,†the Prime Minister said. The government has enacted the National Policy on Cashew Nuts for 2022-27 which aims to increase production and value-added, giving hope to cashew farmers. It is aimed to increase output with competitive quality, promote industrialisation and increase processing to at least 25 percent by 2027 and 50 percent by 2032. The government also aims to promote exports through market diversification, cross-sectoral linkages, trade facilitation, cost reduction and market superiority. The government also called upon the private sector and investors to consider investing in the processing industry in Cambodia as the country is rich in the raw materials of agriculture, he said. “Cambodia has raw materials, but processing is not enough. So Cambodia wants to attract investors to process locally available raw materials, and that in turn will create jobs and create added value for products,†he said. Vietnam is the biggest market for Cambodia’s raw cashew and a small share is exported to India and the rest goes to domestic use. The main markets for processed cashew products are Europe and Japan. In Lay Huot, chairwoman at Chey Sambo Cashew Nut Processing Handicraft in Kampong Thom province, said the commodity has potential that is in need of investment in facilities for processing, packaging, and production of finished products. “The investment on processing locally will contribute to providing value-added to cashew nut products but also create jobs and markets for farmers via contract farming,†Lay Hout. A Cambodian Cashew Association report showed that in 2022, Cambodia exported $1 billion worth of fresh cashew nuts. The largest importer of fresh cashew from Cambodia is Vietnam. In 2019, Cambodia exported 600,000 tons of fresh cashew nuts, 950,000 tons in 2020, and 1.1 million tons in 2021. Currently, more than 500,000 hectares of land are under cashew cultivation in 10 provinces. According to a Cashew nut Association of Cambodia report, Kampong Thom province has the largest cashew plantation of 90,959 hectares, followed by Kratie province with 47,858 hectares.